Wire supply apparatus and method of supplying wire



E. U. LANG Oct. 29, 1968 WIRE SUPPLY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF SUPPLYING WIRE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 18, 1966 fu/enz or'k Erneai Oct. 29, 1968 NG 3,407,852

WIRE SUPPLY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF SUPPLYING WIRE Filed Feb. 18. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Irneai EJ421252,

United States Patent Office 3,407,852 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 3,407,852 WIRE SUPPLY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF SUPPLYING WIRE Ernest U. Lang, Niles, Mich., assignor to National-Standard Company, Niles, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 528,512 3 Claims. (Cl. 140147) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for feeding wire from a supply source to a forming device in which wire is drawn from the source and freed of torsional stresses. The torsional stress-free wire is then accumulated in a slack loop with any cast of the wire being in the same plane as the loop. The wire is drawn from the loop into the forming device.

My present invention relates to apparatus and method of feeding Wire from a wire supply source to a place of use or fabrication into articles.

In the art of manufacture of articles of wire from a supply coil of wire it is conventional practice to support the coil of wire on a let-off stand or swift. Wire drawn from the coil is trained through festoon means for delivery to slack wire accumulator means from which the wire extends to the Wire fabricating device. The afore-arrangement of components is utilized especially in instances where the wire forming machine operates intermittently such as in the fabricating of coil springs. The foregoing arrangement provides for the utilization of large coils of wire to provide for long continuous operation of the spring coiling machine, and the accumulating means provides for storage of wire in an elongated slack loop for delivery to the spring coiling machine under small or virtually no load in tension.

In known apparatus as above described the elongated loop of wire in the slack wire accumulator in passing therethrough develops torsional stresses and frequently upon contraction of the loop to minimum amount the torsional stresses in the wire causes the wire to escape from the accumulating means and thus requires shutting down the wire forming device. r

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus in which wire may be accumulated for delivery to a wire fabricating device substantially free of torsional stresses thus permitting satisfactory and efficient operation of the wire fabricating machine.

It has further been common practice in the art to rotatably support a supply coil of wire on the vertical spindle of a let-off stand or swift. The coil rotates as wire is drawn off of it. In this arrangement it is essential that great care be exercised in coiling the supply coil of wire to make certain that the cast of a free loop is of a definite predetermined free diameter and lying in a single plane. Any variation from such predetermined cast will effect the free length of an open or compression spring or the intial load of a closed or tension spring formed by the spring making machine. The cast of such a free loop according to conventional spring making practices :must be carefully maintained to a required predetermined free diameter for satisfactory production of uniform compression or tension coil springs. The formation of supply coils of wire meeting this requirement is exceedingly diificult and consequently coil springs formed in the manner last noted usually lack uniformity and are highly unsatisfactory in the respects noted.

Accordingly, it is a further object of the present inven-v tion to provide an apparatus and method in which unrestrained wire of a supply source of wire defines a free loop with the cast in a vertical plane so that any variation in the cast of the wire in the elongated slack loop in the accumulating means will not effect the free length of an open coil compression spring, or the initial load of a closed coil or tension spring.

A further object is to provide an apparatus and method to substantially eliminate any variation in direction of the center of the cast of a free loop of wire as it enters a spring coil forming machine.

The above and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred form of apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 as viewed from the right hand side of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view of the essential arrangement of the components of the apparatus shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 to achieve the objects of the present invention.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings the present invention is shown embodied in a let-off apparatus which, in the main, comprises frame means 1, a reel and shaft assembly 2 supported on the frame means, brake means for the shaft and reel assembly, indicated generally at 3, and festoon means 4 for wire withdrawn from a coil 5 on the reel indicated by reference numeral 6. The frame means 1 comprises a pair of laterally spaced apart side frame members 7 and 8 having support means 9 and 10 to support the reel and shaft assembly 2 for rotation about a fixed horizontal axis to provide for withdrawing of wire w from the coil 5 upon rotation of the reel. It will be understood that the present invention has utility for use With coils of material other than wire, such as natural or synthetic filaments, and for strands comprising monofilament or multifilament coils of material. The Word wire is thus used herein in a generic sense to mean metal wire or other coil filaments as typified by those last above noted.

The frame means 1 further comprises a first fixed vertical standard 14 secured at its lower end to the side frame member 7, and a second vertical standard 15 fixed at its lower end to the side frame member 8 with the upper ends of the standards 14 and 15 being connected by a transversely extending frame assembly at 16. An axle 17 is mounted at one end in frame member 14 and which axle at its inner end rotatably supports first wire guide means, such as a sheave 18 for the festoon means 4 lying in a vertical plane substantially centrally of the sides of reel 6. The festoon means 4 further comprises a festoon arm 19 pivotally mounted at its lower end in a bearing block 20 on the base of the main frame 1 and lying inwardly of the inner surface of the side frame member 7. The arm 19 at its outer end carries second wire guide means in the form of a second sheave rotatably mounted about a fixed horizontal axis on an axle pin 26 carried at the outer end of the festoon arm 19. Festoon arm 19 is normally biased for rotation in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 1, tending to space apart the first and second wire guide sheaves 18 and 25 for storage of Wire withdrawn from the coil. The wire w from the coil 5 is adapted to be trained over the first sheave 18 and then to and around the second sheave 25 from which it extends to third wire guide means in the form of a third sheave 27 mounted for rotation on a vertical axis defined by axle pin 28 supported in an arm member 29 secured to the upper end of the transverse frame assembly 16 of the main frame, and from which the wire w then passes to a fourth wire guide means in the form of a fourth sheave 30 mounted for rotation on a horizontal axis on the shaft 32 of a gear drive unit of an electric drive motor means indicated at 33. The sheave and drive means 33 are supported on platform means 34 supported on a standard 35 suitably secured to the upper transverse frame assembly 16 laterally inwardly of the standard 14. The sheave 30 preferably has a deep peripheral groove and an idler mounted on crank arm 41 pivotally mounted as at 42 to the platform means 34 and is biased by the spring loaded assembly means 43 into the peripheral groove of the sheave 30.

The foregoing festoon means is preferably so constructed and arranged to effect the drawing of wire off of the coil under substantially constant tension over a predetermined range of pivotal movement of the festoon arm 19 and within the wire storage capacity of the festoon means. The brake means at 3 preferably is of a construction to provide for retarding rotation of the supply coil of wire so that it does not overrun wire being withdrawn from the coil. In the arrangement of the components a small or slight releasing force is desirable for a wire to be withdrawn from the supply reel, and the brake means is preferably self-energizing to arrest movement of the supply reel in the event drawing of wire from the reel is discontinued or the wire from the reel breaks.

The apparatus of the present invention further comprises slack wire accumulating means indicated generally at comprising horizontally spaced apart outer and inner panel means 51 and 52 to form a narrow wire receiving chamber 53 lying in a vertical plane therebetween.

The outer and inner panel means 51 and 52 are suitably secured at their outer side edges to end frame members 55 and 56 with the frame member 55 being suitably secured to the let-off stand as by brackets 60 and 61 connected, respectively, to the standard 14 and the side frame member 7. In the aforementioned arrangement of the panel means 51 and 52 an opening to chamber 53 is defined at the upper end thereof to which the wire w from the sheave 30 is adapted to be fed from the driven sheave 30 as will be further described.

In a preferred form of the invention the outer panel means 51 is preferably formed of a clear rigid plastic material components so that the operator may visibly check the functioning of the accumulating means, and the inner panel means may be formed of sheet metal components and which together with the end members 55 and 56 form a rigid unit for receiving wire from the driven sheave 30.

Partition means, indicated at 62, is disposed to lie in the chamber 53 formed between the inner and outer panel means 51 and 52 with the partition means being movable horizontally within the chamber of the accumulator to provide, for example, in a right hand position thereof for a wide slot for receiving relatively large diameter wire in the form of an elongated slack loop from the driven wheel or sheave 30. With the partition means 40 disposed toward the left-hand side, the accumulator provides for the reception for a narrower elongated loop of slack Wire of small diameter wire. The aforedescribed end member 55 and partition means 62 provides as will be described wire guide means for an elongated loop of wire in the accumulating means.

The adjustable partition means provides for accumulating wire of different diameters in the accumulator in loops having straight sides to enable proper feeding of the wire to the wire forming device, such as a wire processing machine indicated at 65, with minimum frictional retardation of the wire w while passing through the accumulator.

The partition means 62 may be adjustably and movably mounted relative to end member 55 in the accumulator means 50 by any suitable means, as for example by upper and lower locking means indicated at 66 and 67, respectively, adapted to be associated with bolt members 68 and 69 having sliding engagement in the slots 70 and 71, respectively, between spaced panel members forming the panel means 51 and 52. By loosening the locking means .66 and 67, the partition means 62 may bemoved in a selected position in the chamber formed between the inner and outer panel means of the accumulator to provide for the accumulation of an elongated slack loop of wire of desired width in the accumulator.-

It will also be seen that a wire guide assembly 70 is mounted at the outer upper end of the partition means 62 serving to provide for guiding of the wire from the accumulating means to a place of use such as a spring coiling machine 65.

The apparatus and method of the present invention may be best understood upon reference to the diagrammatic showing in FIGURE 3 of the essential components of the present invention. As there shown, energization of the electric motor means 33 driving the sheave 30 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing, effects drawing of the wire w from the supply coil 5 over sheave 18 rotating the latter in a clockwise direction, thence to sheave 25, rotating the latter in a counter-clockwise direction, thence to sheave 27 which also rotates in a counter-clockwise sense and thence to sheave 30. The idler 40 retains the wire w in the peripheral groove of the sheave 30. The sheave 30 preferably is provided with a deep peripheral groove and the wire w therearound is retained in the groove to a substantial extent and preferably of the order of 330. The wire from the sheave 30 passes into the chamber of accumulating means 50 engaging the wire guide means defined by the end member 55 and partition 62 to form the wire into an elongated loop for passage outwardly of the open end of the accumulator through the wire guide 70 and thence to the processing machine or place of use. It will be observed that the path of the wire from sheave 30 and through the accumulator is all in a substantially common vertical plane with the wire traveling in a counter-clockwise direction and hence no torsional stresses will be imposed on the wire as it enters or leaves the accumulator in its passage to the place of use or spring coiling machine. Thus, in the drawing of wire off a rotatable supply coil, supported on a rotatable reel in the manner aforedescribed, the wire from the supply reel is delivered to the place of use or spring coiling machine substantially free of any torsional stresses. In the intermittent utilization of wire at the place of use such as by a spring coiling machine, the elongated loop of wire in the accumulator means will fluctuate in overall length so that should the elongated loop become of a minimum length approaching the upper open end of the accumulator means there is no substantial torsional stresses in the wire tending to eject the wire from the accumulator means.

Further, in the drawing wire w from the supply coil 5, the wire w will have a cast in it. A cast as it is under stood in the art is characteristic of wire withdrawn from rotatable supply reel which if not under restraint will form a loop of a given free diameter. In the apparatus of the invention it will be seen that wire w drawn off the supply coil will in passing over the sheave 18 have the center of the cast lying in the same direction as the center of the sheave 18. In the length of wire w extending from sheave 18 to sheave 25, there will be imparted to it a twist or turn of approximately 180 so that the wire w in passing around sheave .25 will have the center of the cast lying substantially in the same direction as the center of the counter-clockwise rotating sheave 25. The wire w in passing from sheave 25 to sheave 27 also rotating in a counter-clockwise sense, but in a different plane, will be subjected to a twist or turn of approximately but again the center of the cast substantially follows the center of the sheave. Thus, also in the wire passing from the sheave 27 to the sheave 30 with the sheave 30 rotating in a counter-clockwise direction will tend to impart a turn or twist of 90 to the wire between the sheaves but again the direction of the center of the cast lies in the same direction as the center of the sheave 30. The wire passes from sheave 30 substantially free of torsional stresses into accumulating means 50 and is oriented by sheave 30 so that the center of the free loop or cast lies in a vertical plane in the chamber of the accumulator means. The wire in passing around the sheave 30 lies substantially in the same vertical plane as the plane of the chamber of the accumulating means and since the wire in passing through the accumulating means continues in a single direction, that is, counter-clockwise in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the center of the free loop remains substantially in a vertical plane upon passing into the spring coiling machine. Since the center of the tree loop lies in a vertical plane, any variation in the cast does not effect functioning of the spring coiling machine in fabricating springs. Thus, as the wire enters the spring coiling machine, there is substantially no variation in a direction of the cast of the free loop as it enters the spring coiling machine. It is also prefenable that the free end of the cast of the free loop in passing to the spring coiling machine be directed in counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 3. Thus, in the present invention the wire in the accumulating means is substantially free of torsional stresses and the cast of the wire fed into the spring coiling machine lies in a vertical plane.

It will be understood that various modifications and rearrangements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for use between a rotatable supply coil of wire and a device for successively forming articles of the wire, the combination of slack wire accumulating means between said supply source and said device, feed means for withdnawing wire from said supply coil of wire comprising festoon means for storing wire drawn from said supply coil, driven sheave means for drawing wire from said rotatable supply coil through said festoon means and delivering said wire substantially free of torsional stresses in an elongated loop into said accumulating means, and said accumulating means including guide means for guiding passage of the wire therethrough substantially free of torsional stresses for delivery to said device.

2. The appanatus of claim 1 characterized by said guide means of said accumulator means guiding said wire therein in the same direction of rotation as said driven sheave means to said device.

3. A method of delivering wire from a supply coil of wire to a device for fabricating articles of Wire comprising the steps of drawing wire from said supply coil, substantially freeing said withdrawn wire of torsional stresses, accumulating the withdrawn wire substantially free of torsional stresses therein, and delivering the accuniulated wire substantially free of torsional stresses to said device.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,834,993 12/1931 Atwood 242--128 2,391,679 12/1945 Burge 242-78 2,706,091 4/1955 Nelson 242 -128 3,137,452 6/1964 Winders 242 128 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner. 

